Following complications from the flu, former BOOM! Studios and Archaia Press President Jack Cummins passed away unexpectedly. He was 50 years old.

Cummins received his B.A. and J.D. from DePaul University and shares the distinction of being the first four-year letter winner in Men’s NCAA Division I soccer at the university. The experienced entrepreneur and attorney was Managing Director at Club 9 Sports, Inc. and founded the law firm of Cummins & Associates, Ltd. in Chicago. Over the years he has represented clients varying from Fortune 500 companies, shareholders of public and private corporations, to emerging companies and entrepreneurs. At the same time, Cummins was known within the comics industry for being President of Archaia Press.

In 2013, the company was acquired by BOOM! Studios and Cummins became the President and co-owner of BOOM!. Later on, Cummins transitioned to a director role on the award winning publishers board. Along with being the former President of BOOM!, Cummins was also a former owner and General Counsel for the Chicago Red Stars in its predecessor league, Women’s Professional Soccer.

In recent years, Cummins was awarded the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award by the DePaul University and also the Rev. John T. Richardson, C.M. Award for outstanding contributions to DePaul University Athletics. During 2017, Cummins co-founded the National Independent Soccer Association with Peter Wilt.

“Jack lived life passionately and will be missed by all who knew him. Life is short. Like Jack, make the most of it and leave the world a better place,” Wilt, who confirmed Cummins’ death, tweeted.

“One of my favorite memories was watching him masterfully negotiate the deal for Archaia to do our Cyborg 009 graphic novel with a giant Japanese conglomerate and seeing how - even with a language barrier - he was able to bring people together and figure out an agreement that made all parties happy and made instant friends out of our Japanese counterparts. He was a people person and once you were in the friend circle you were in for life,” Stephen Christy, BOOM!'s President of Development, posted on Facebook.

I am sorry to pass on news this morning that NISA Co-founder Jack Cummins has died unexpectedly after a brief illness.

Jack lived life passionately and will be missed by all who knew him. Life is short. Like Jack, make the most of it and leave the world a better place.